Rising Star
by DiabolikFanfics
Summary: AU. Sometimes she really envied him. She actually really envied Ayato sometimes. She wasn't going to join the idol club but he was. His mind was set but hers wasn't. It was a mess.
1. Loose and Tight Ambition

**A/N: It's hot ;-; Enjoy.**

 **Loose and Tight Ambition**

* * *

"Wow…," Yui mumbled as she clapped her hands. "...Amazing...right Ayato?"

"Psh, I'm way better than them." Her red haired friend clicked his tongue in envy. Though in contrast to his impudent behavior, his green eyes shone with admiration to the performers on the black top while clapping along with his blonde friend.

"Yes yes," she nodded at his pretentious comment. He had a habit of keeping his true thoughts to himself. In fact, he was currently staring intently at his idol on stage who was producing pleasant music on the violin. "You're definitely way better than them, way better than your precious idol."

"Shut up, stupid flat board." And there he goes making fun of her chest size again. It was worth it though. He was flustered, cheeks red almost like the color his own unruly red hair. "Che, you're just making fun of me aren't you?"

With grin she simply nodded and hummed, "Mhm."

The violin solo faded. Claps and enthusiastic cries instantly followed after the music came to a stop.

Light shined through the dark on the two students from the idol club as the large audience, mostly made up of middle school students, applauded, shouted and squealed in excitement. The club had always been the last to perform, saving the best for last of course, and had always induced the loudest cheers from the students. Near the end of the school year, middle schools always visited near by high school and show the kids around the school.

Yui and Ayato couldn't wait to join the club. After this summer they will soon be starting their first year at this high school and joining the club on the first day of school. That was what they planned to do, to join on the very first day.

"U-um, I'm your biggest fan!"

"Me too! I love all you songs!"

"Hey, should we ask for autographs?"

"Actually I really want their autographs!"

"I'm dying to get their signatures!"

"Kyaa! I love you Reiji, Shu! You two are awesome!"

By the end of the performance it was about time to head back to school.

"Please sign this Reiji!"

"Of course, and your name is?"

"Thank you very much! I-It's, Kenta!"

Well it wasn't time to head back yet, not until everyone got what they wanted: Autographs from students in the idol club.

"Mister, you want an autograph from them too?"

"Hey, don't judge. We teachers aren't as old as he think we are."

Even teachers and the principals were squeezing their way into the sea of teens.

Yui watched students from her school and other schools as well as teachers and principals mobbed high school students from the idol club. "Oh look, you can get an autograph—"

"Where!?"

Yui stifled her laughter as she pointed Ayato into the direction of a crowd surrounding the two performers who had performed last. The one with red eyes and black hair had a wave of sophisticated and refine air around him, seemingly difficult to approach. The other one—Ayato's idol—had blue eyes looking disinterested and bored, somewhat a bit more easier to approach.

"Alright," Ayato happily smirked as he bulldozed his way into the crowd, making his way towards his idol.

She let out her laughter, receiving curious stares from the people nearby her which she ignored. It was funny to watch him force his way through the barrier that surrounded his idol. She wondered how on earth he was able to readjust his eyes so quick now that the lights were all turned back on. He was shoving and pushing people out if his way. She could even hear him say "excuse me" in a sassy manner here and there from where she stood.

"Ah, geez Ayato...be more courteous to people." She sighed, shaking her head, upset at his rude manner but then she instantly went back to laughing at Ayato's behavior. He was so excited to meet the person he practically fanboys over almost everyday.

When they first visited the high school they were instantly attracted to the idol club. They had even tried making an idol club of their own in their own school but no one was willing to join.

"Sign this," Ayato demanded, managing to be have made his way in front of the crowd and witness the two performers up close, as he stuffed a photo in the blonde's passive face.

His idol sighed and replied, "Alright, alright..."

"How nice," Yui thought to herself, watching the exchange between her friend and the two high school students. His green eyes were were shining so brightly, thrilled to meet the person he admired. It was completely obvious to her that Ayato was set on joining the club once high school starts.

...

" _Listen, yours truly here will truly be the best! Better than you!"_

" _Yes, yes I know. Let's get back to practice."_

...

"Should I join too...?"

Her friend was getting his photo signed. Ayato, though prideful and overly confident with himself, had someone he looked up to. His mouth was set in a smirk as he talked to the blonde male about something. Though soon after he finished speaking, his smirk was quickly wiped off his face, replaced with a frown and accompanied by red cheeks. He was overconfident for his own good sometimes. But to her it was clear, by the way his eyes twinkled so brightly, that he was elated right now, delighted to be interacting with the blonde male.

...

" _You'll join too right Pancake?"_

" _Of course I will," She replied in an obvious tone, not minding the nickname Ayato had called her as she lifted him up on the wall which separated their school and the high school they would be heading to after they graduate. "W-Wait, what if we get—"_

" _Psh,_ _you think_ _we'll get caught? Yours truly is here so we definitely won't get caught."_

" _Mm...Okay then..."_

" _Alright, to the idol club room!"_

" _Right, to the idol club room," She nervously repeated. "But,_ _why do I feel like we'll get caught like usual_ _...?"_

...

" _Wow," Yui clapped inaudibly._

 _Even when they were practicing, learning a new dance or song, singing, playing piano, playing violin, or whatever instrument they were playing, it was always pleasant to the eyes and ears. There may have been flaws at times, but of course Yui and Ayato wouldn't know what the flaws were. In their eyes it was probably perfection, like they watching professionals doing their thing._

" _Che, aren't those students from our school," her friend seethed quietly. She noticed Ayato was staring hard at a student from their middle school who was practicing violin with someone that Ayato looked up to._

 _He looked envious, glaring hard at the person who was playing the violin along with Shu, the person he idolized. "That's not fair!"_

 _They were both expertly hiding in the bushes as they usually did during their lunch period, covered in leaves, dirt and a crown of flowers on their head, as they peeked through the open window and watched a lesson taught by a guy with red eyes and black hair, one with black hair and eyes while Ayato's idol was playing violin with someone from Ayato's school._

 _He threw off the flower clown he had made with roses picked from the bushes and stood up, about to invite himself into the room._

" _I—"_

" _Wait a moment Ayato—Shh," Yui cut him, quickly pulled him back down, hiding back into the green leaves and colorful roses. Leaves and petals fell onto the soil and concrete at their movement._

 _They remained silent for a few minutes, listening to the voices who questioned: Who's voice that was just now? Yui unconsciously held her breath. No one came to check on them yet. But someone entered the room, telling everyone they should practice on the real stage._

" _Let's go, let's go~"_

 _That voice was familiar. It was the voice of a person who had often saved them whenever they wondered onto school grounds they weren't supposed to be on._

" _Right now?"_

" _Eh? Why?"_

" _The real performance starts in a few day remember~"_

" _What, really?!"_

" _We've been focusing on practicing for it that we forgot about all about the real thing!"_

 _The person managed to drive everyone out the room._

" _You two aren't supposed to be here and you still sneak over? Geez, how persistent~," the owner of the voice was close, exactly near the window. "Remember to repay me later~"_

 _Their heads popped out of the bush._

" _We will, thank you," Yui thanked the blonde male with his elbows propped on the ledge of the window and his hands cupping his cheeks._

 _In contrast to Ayato's idol, Kou, the person that Yui admired, had a more outgoing personality and there was always a cheerful air surrounding him. Kou was the type who could turn anyone's frown right side up._

" _Che, why can't we—"_

" _Kch, do you ever listen to me." But there were times where he_ _wasn't so nice_ _or_ _cherry_ _._ _"_ _You have to maintain your grades to—_ _Ah, which reminds me, your test scores are terrible aren't they?_ _You won't get noticed by Shu_ _at this rate_ _"_

 _A_ _nd of course he loved to_ _taun_ _t Ayato_ _about these things._

" _I-I_ _—_ _Shut up!"_

...

"I want to join too...," Yui murmured.

"Heh heh," her friend popped up in her face with a grin somewhat close to how a hyper kid would look like. "Look Yui!"

A photo of Ayato with a signature on it was stuffed in her face.

"He definitely wants to work with yours truly now."

"That's great," she remarked, her voice slightly muffled by the photo right against her face. He was such a fanboy right now. Aside from that, he was so serious about his passion which was something she envied about him.

The photo was out her face. She watched with a smile on her face as Ayato brought it above him, a large goofy smile plastered on his face, tilting his head up to admire the photo. She was sure of herself Ayato would be able to reach his goal, one-hundred percent sure of it.

"You'll definitely get to perform with him one day."

.

.

.

"It's hot," Yui muttered.

She was in her backyard with Ayato, sitting on the dry grass with legs crossed.

The two of them had a love-hate relationship with the dreadful season known as summer, when the temperature rises and just bakes everything with scorching hot sunlight. But even with this type of weather, Ayato still danced. He was a sweating mess. His hair stuck to his neck and his white shirt was drenched in sweat.

"Hey Ayato," Yui shouted. "You should take a break."

He shook his head while maintaining his dance, showing her an index finger that he'll be dancing one more time.

And so the song looped, beginning once more.

His dancing and his choreography had improved little by little each day. He was learning new things each day. But the same could not be said with her. She didn't practice daily. She didn't learn new things each day like he was.

This was merely a hobby, just a hobby.

"...Alright." She readjusted her position, laying down on the grass and staring up at the sky. You'd think there wouldn't be any white clouds up in the sky during summer but Yui saw a few clouds hanging out in the blue sky and found a cloud shaped like a crown. That crown kid of represented what she had thought of Ayato the first time she met him. At first glance Ayato had seemed like a person who was careless and disgustingly conceited but truthfully he isn't...Well, sometimes he isn't like that.

Yui started to hum along to the music. Ayato soon followed after her, singing along to the chorus, making Yui suppress a small smile. She got up and danced along with Ayato, remembering the moves Ayato had created all himself. Before, he wasn't capable of creating his own choreography himself but now he was somewhat able to do it.

Singing and dancing together was fun enough to forget all about the blazing heat.

Whistling and clapping was heard right after the song was finished.

"That bastard," Ayato grumbled, turning off the music. "Insulting yours truly..."

"Wooooow Ayato~ You improved a lot—" The person jeered. "Not."

"Che, you said you were recording today!"

"I just finished." Kou playfully stuck his tongue out.

"Voice acting! Hurry up and help me with that!" Ayato tackled him to the ground, straddling him.

Ayato used to dislike the critics he'd get from Kou but over time he came to accept it and take it in. Now he practically annoys the hell out of Kou for advice, lessons and how work was like.

"Hah!? No, get off," Kou grunted, roughly shoving Ayato off him. "I have another recording soon and you're messing my appearance!"

Kou stood up and swiped the grass and dirt off his clothes. Time to time Kou would give Ayato some advice but the red-head was insanely annoying sometimes. He clicked his tongue, thinking about his choice of words.

"Kch...This...It...Hah," Kou irritably sighed and force out the words. "It's my last recording of the day."

"That means he'll help you Ayato," Yui softly clapped with a small smile coated on her face. "Isn't that great?"

"Yeah, whatever." Ayato said it in a passive voice, trying to act cool, like he didn't really care Kou had accepted to assist in voice acting. Though nonetheless Yui knew very well he was super duper delighted Kou agreed to help him.

"Anyways, why Yui's house?" Kou took off his beige hat and fanned his face.

"Sorry," Yui apologized. Her house didn't have an air conditioner. The only way to cool down in her house was a fan, ice, cold water and the freezer.

"They're visitors at my house."

Everyone trailed into the house. They all loitered around in the kitchen and opened the freezer, taking in the cold air. The cool air only blessed Kou for a couple of minutes though. It was time for him to head to the studio for recording.

"See ya~"

"Bye," Yui and Ayato said in unison.

Yui sluggishly stumbled into the living room. It was way too hot to move. She even found it difficult to remove herself from the freezer and enter the living room. "I'm gonna die." She heard Ayato, who was lying on the living floor, complain.

"I'll turn on the fan," Yui announced as she plugged the cord into the outlet.

With the nice breeze hitting their faces they felt more refreshed.

"It's unfair, you can get free advice from your own idol."

"Don't worry, you'll get to learn from yours after summer vacation," she encouraged. She wanted to support her encourage her friend a ton this summer. Because once high school starts, she wasn't going to join the club with him like she had said she would.

She wasn't going to join.

"Che, Summer sucks, hurry and pass already dammit!"

"But don't you think Summer is a great time for eating ice-cream?"

She was not going to join.


	2. A Little Squabble

**A Little Squabble**

* * *

"Mom, dad, I'm going now," Yui brought out a key from her short's pocket, about to lock the door herself.

"Alright!"

"I'll lock the door sweetie—Oh wait a sec!" She had the same color hair Yui did, a light blonde color. But unlike Yui's hair, she had long straight hair instead of a wavy short one. Her eyes was a tad different from Yui's eyes as well, a light pink hue, lighter than Yui's shade of pink.

"Here, for Kou and Ayato," Her mother opened the door and handed over two plastic bags. Yui could smell the food emitting from the two bags. Her mother's cooking always made her mouth water; it was always appealing to the eyes, nose and especially the mouth.

"Alright, bye."

Yui was on her way to Ayato's house. Along the way she encountered houses with dogs and cats. She couldn't resist the urge of petting them so whenever she passed by a house with a dog or cat, she'd beckon the animal to come closer the fences or gates just to pet it. If the owner was there she'd asked a ton of questions about their pet and ask for their permission to pet it.

Ayato lived in the same neighborhood as she did. She's probably exaggerating but his house was insanely big, well at least bigger than her house. When she arrived at Ayato's place she was greeted by Ayato's Chihuahua.

"Hi Princess," Yui knelt on the concrete, smothering the dog with lots of hugs.

The Chihuahua's name was Princess. Yes, Ayato actually named his dog Princess which Ayato got mocked by Kou, saying that Ayato lacked creative thinking. Yui thought it was fine since the dog surprisingly loved to be called Princess. Besides, Ayato had more creativity than she'll ever have.

The large gold-brown door opened as Kou greeted her.

"Hiya~ The cats were cute right~"

"Mhm, you got to pet them too?"

"Mhm~" The next words that came out his mouth in a shout were meant for Ayato. "And you know what else? They all have cute names!"

"Shut up! Princess is the best name I ever thought of for her!"

"Right~ Of course it is," Kou sarcastically replied.

The living room was spacious, enough room to dance, plus there was air conditioning here. Yui placed her bags on the coffee table. On the white sofa there was a tub of vanilla ice-cream, the circular cover was open and three spoons were stabbed into ice-cream. She plopped on the sofa and placed the tub of cold treat on her lap.

"Now, try singing one of my songs."

She pulled out a random spoon, it didn't matter whether someone used it already, and dug in.

"Hah?! No, yours truly refuses!"

The only songs Yui had ever heard him sing to were Shu's songs and nothing but Shu's songs. He all the songs downloaded on his phone and listened to it almost every single day. She didn't see any harm in that. Though it made her envious. He loved every single song that his idol produced but she didn't. She only liked a few songs and she wasn't that crazy over her idol like Ayato was with Shu.

"Fine then." Kou whistled innocently. "Shu will think you're a creep~ He might not want to work with you~"

"Gah," Ayato yelled out in annoyance. "Alright, but I'm choosing the song!"

"Oh I have a recommendation for you," Yui sent him the lyrics first then went though her playlist on her phone and played the song. "I'm sure you'll like this one."

After listening to the whole song, Ayato's face was all scrunched up in irritation. It was a face where he didn't want to compliment someone or something when he actually thought they were cool or interesting.

"...It's...Che, I guess this is okay."

"It's okay?" Kou repeated, offended by what Ayato had just said. "You know, I have fans who are also fans of Shu!"

A small laugh escaped Yui's lips. She knew Ayato actually really took a liking to the Kou's song. He'll probably search up Kou on the internet and download all his songs soon enough. "Don't worry Kou. I'm sure he liked this song a lot."

"Eh, really~" Kou extended the vowels. He picked up the chihuahua by its armpits and placed her on his lap. He gave Princess lots of hugs and cuddles while he suggested,"Why don't you sing with him too?"

"W-what?" She gawked at Kou, his attention stuck on the small chihuahua. "I'm not that good with—"

"I not telling to practice or anything am I?" He blankly interrupted. In the background Ayato was nodding to the music Yui had recommended him while quietly singing the song in a whisper. "I'm just wondering if you'll sing with him or not—"

Ayato began to sing, his tone of voice matching the tone of the music. Compared to Ayato's and Kou's voice, her voice was soft and gentle. She wasn't able to sing in that tone of voice. If she had practiced along with Ayato everyday...If she had spent time learning new things like Ayato had...If she was more like Ayato...

If she wasn't so afraid...

She would be singing along with Ayato right now.

"Aren't you going to sing too," halfway through the song Ayato stopped and questioned.

Yui shook her head. "I shouldn't interrupt your practice."

"Hah?! Are you saying you're better than—"

"No you idiot. She's not going to join the idol club you know?" Kou scoffed. He placed the dog onto the floor, stood up and stretched his arms. It seemed that Ayato was a bit baffled. Kou sighed a bit and mumbled while disappearing into another room. "I'm want chocolate ice-cream...I'm going into your kitchen Ayato."

"Ah, that's right...I don't plan on joining it," Yui hesitantly confirmed.

"You...You're really..." Ayato paused for a moment, trying to think of a term that described her. "You're really pathetic."

Of course, she knew that. She's, pathetic, a huge disappointment.

She smiled sadly. "I know—"

"Che, you're still bothered by that stupid little incident? That's pathetic! You don't have the right to be like this!" His voice displayed anger, his green eyes glared hard at her, as he shook her roughly by the shoulders. She felt his frustration. No doubt he was irritated by her. "Get used to it already!"

There was no way she could possibly get over it, being told her music, something that she truly thought she could pursue a career with, was terrible and dreadful to hear. She could not get over the words people have said about her music, words she was discouraged by even though, in a way, the words were critics and had been said in a kind way, phrases like "It sounds unoriginal", "It sounds terrible", "This wouldn't sell", or "No one would want to listen to something like this".

Whatever sound she created, no one would like it.

"Hey, aren't you going to say something?!" She was sure Ayato was completely aggravated with her.

"I am!" She shouted. "I'm already used to it!"

"What are you talking?! You're not used to it at all! You stopped—"

"Now, what are we all worked up for?" She glanced behind Ayato. "Well? Aren't you going to tell me what's happening here?" Unlike Ayato, his dad had gold eyes and long silver-white hair. His dad worked as a teacher at a music school and at times Ayato would get some advice from his dad about his singing and such. But getting advice from his dad was terrifying was what she had heard from Ayato, which was why Ayato rarely asked his dad for help.

"Che, it's nothing." The red-head remove his hands off Yui's shoulders and plopped on the sofa.

"Hm, is that so? I was sure I heard something along the lines of...an idol club?" His father wore a smile, a saying "tell me or else".

"Geh..." She saw Ayato shiver a bit. "How long were you listening for..."

"Wmoh, I twold mhim," Kou came back with a spoon with remnants of vanilla and chocolate ice-cream and vanilla mixed with chocolate ice-cream in his mouth. Two tub of chocolate ice-cream held close to his chest by one arm while the other arm held a tub of strawberry flavored ice-cream.

"Now, please do give me an explanation Ayato."

Between her and Ayato, if anyone had the right to be upset it would be Ayato. He was the one who had gone through worse, the one who had been through a rougher time than her, the one who had received the most heartbreaking words and phrases. Like Ayato had said, she had no right to be like what she was right now, to be upset, to be afraid, nor to quit.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

After an explanation was given to the grown-up, each person had their own tub of ice-cream in their lap, eating as silence wafted over them. Ayato's dad hadn't said anything about it yet, just silently eating ice-cream like everyone else.

It was quiet until Princess began to bark and try to nudge Yui and Ayato off the sofa.

"...Right," Ayato's dad picked up the chihuahua and set her on his lap. "Why don't you three go out and visit this cafe and cool off a little bit?"

* * *

Chimes rang as Yui pulled the door open. A waiter was quick to greet, bowing and said "Welcome" with a broad smile and asked,"Are you in any hurry to leave?" Smiling, Yui shook her head.

"That's great, I'll escort you three to your table."

It seemed this was an unpopular place. The cafe was scarce; there were hardly any customers in here. But regardless of all that, the waiters and waitresses retained bright attitudes.

They were brought to a table against the window. Three menus were set in front of them along with three glasses of ice-water. "When you're ready to order ring that bell over there." The waiter pointed to the gold-brown hand bell in the middle of the table "Someone will come and take your order. Please enjoy yourselves." The waiter did a little bow and left their table to serve another table who was ringing a chime bell.

Yui sat close to the window, Kou took his seat next to her and Ayato sat across from them.

"..." Yui sighed, staring out the window, watching cars and people past by. Her hands played with the cold class of ice-water sitting in front of her. She swirled the water around a bit then took a sip. She placed the glass down on the table and softly cleared her throat. "Um..." She kept her eyes focused on her glass of water with large squares of ice. "...I still love music and—"

"I know that already," Ayato harshly retorted.

A frown took place on her features.

"Cool off Ayato~" Kou tried keeping a warm atmosphere. "Are you two done thinking about what to order?"

"I don't want anything," both of them spoke in unison.

"Che," Ayato glared at her for a split-second then turned his head to the side, facing the window.

Yui pursed her lips, becoming a little ticked off by Ayato's behavior. "Hmph," she uttered, turning her head to the side and facing the window like Ayato did. A scowl was set on her face, glaring though the window at nothing in particular.

"Eh? Are you sure? The food—"

"I don't want anything!" Again she was in sync with Ayato.

"Ah, is that so?" Kou's tone spooked her, menacing but cheerful at the same time. It sent shivers down her spine just now. "...don't want anything eh?~" Stiffly, Yui turned to Kou. He wore a bright smile but in her eyes it was an intimidating one. She watched as he took the hand bell and rang it. Almost instantly, a waitresses came by to take the order. However, Kou whispered something to the waitresses, requesting her of something.

"...could...get...here..."

"Of course," the waitresses happily responded and disappeared somewhere else.

"Um K-Kou," Yui nervously started. "We're sorry for interrupting you earlier, right Ayato?" The red-head vigorously nodded. It was a known fact to her and Ayato that whenever Kou had a scary smile he was going to play some sort of prank on them.

"What are you talking about~ I wasn't mad over such a trivial thing as that."

But he still had that smile on his face.

"...Hah," someone sighed so she followed the sound of the voice. She met the sight of Shu dressed in waiter's attire, a black dress-shirt with a bow tie around the collar of the dress-shirt and black-pants. "What do you want Kou?"

Blue eyes dully glared at Kou.

"I just want you to take my order that's all~" Yui had a bad feeling about this. "That sundae, I want that sundae." She heard him emphasize the word "that" and it was something to be worried over.

Suddenly Ayato slammed his palms on the table and stood up.

"I'm Ayato and I'm going to join the idol club and—" It didn't seem like the blonde waiter was really paying attention. Ayato looked overjoyed to see his idol, eyes shining brightly, and his mouth moving rapidly. When Ayato finished with his rant, the waiter simply nodded and left.

Seeing Ayato behave like a fanboy, it made her rethink her plans.

"Hey Ayato," she started, gripping her glass of cold water with both hands. "Would you be happy if I joined with you?"

"It's not like it'll make me happy because I don't really care." For some reason, that wasn't what she wanted Ayato to say. She wanted him to say it would make him happy, that she should join it with him. But he had his own way of saying it. "It's obvious you suck at something, everyone has something they suck at, except yours truly of course, so stop thinking of those stupid things already."

"Okay," she nodded. "I...You know, I might—"

"Heh," Kou dragged out the "eh" sound, making a scarier face than before. "Now you two make-up," Kou remarked, stressing out the work "now". His lips widened even further. "I ordered you two your favorite dessert~"

How he said it scared the crap out of them. With a soft thump, a huge bowl of sundae was set on their table as the waiter commented,"I hope you two don't get a brain freeze. You can't eat at the same time. If you want to tag in the other person, your mouth must be completely clear of ice-cream before telling them to dig in. Now, are you ready for the challenge?!"

Yui and Ayato had horrified expressions painted across their face and cried out in sync,"Brain freeze?!"

"I'll be recording~" Kou fished his phone out from his pocket and began recording. 

"Good luck you two and eat as fast as you can~ Hehe~"

He wasn't wishing them any luck at all.


	3. Yo, Need a Permanent Marker?

**A/N:** **Um, t** **here won't be** **a** **romantic pairing** **for Yui** **b** **ut** **instead** **there will be a ton of** **friendship pairing.** **There** **might be some** **romance thrown in a bit in the future so I hope that will suffice? XD**

 **Yo, Need a Permanent Marker?**

* * *

"A-A-Achoo..."

"Shhhhh!"

Mixed in with the crowd on the sidewalks, Yui and Ayato were following, staking, Shu. The weather wasn't as warm as when summer began but it was still scorching. And so, what they wore on a day with this kind of blazing heat were sunglasses, for hiding their eyes, hats, for hiding their hair and a black coat. A black coat on a sunny day. They sure were smart about their choice of clothing. Yui couldn't believe she had agreed to this in the first place.

"Hey Ayato, why are we all dressed up like this?"

"Shut—Shush, Shhhhhhhh!"

It was almost here. The first day of school was almost here. To join of not to join the club along with Ayato was the question stuck in her head throughout her summer vacation.

"You really like him, huh Ayato?"

"Shh!"

Now they were hiding behind a tree truck, observing Shu as he laid down on the grass. The park was partially empty. It wasn't much of a surprise since no one would want to be out in summer and people would most likely go to the beach or a public pool to cool down instead of the park. But here was Shu, napping on the grass. "Zzz."

"Why are we following him," Yui whispered.

"To see him practice..." Ayato whispered back. "Then while he's practicing I can...and ask for advice...and dance with him...or even..."

Ayato was a big fan of Shu. He had all of the blonde's songs downloaded onto his phone, he memorized all the lyrics to every song Shu had created and he listened and sang along to those songs every single day. Shu's songs saved him and encouraged him.

Ayato was his number one fan.

Yui interrupted Ayato's rant. "Ah, he's moving—"

"What are you waiting here for?! After him!"

She was grabbed by the wrist and dragged by Ayato, stalking Shu. Trailing after the blonde male, it seemed that he didn't notice them at all. Every place that they winded up at, Shu was just taking a nap. It looked like he had a free day today. He didn't seem to be in any rush or intent to practice today. "You should have a break once in awhile. Look at your idol, he's resting."

Yui pointed at Shu. She and Ayato were on top of a tree, sitting on a tree branch and watching Shu play with a small group of kids. The blonde male wasn't exactly the one who was playing with the kids. It was more like the kids were playing with him. First off, Shu was dozing off on the swings but then some kid pushed him and he ended on the sand, face-first into the sand. Now the kids were burying him from neck to toes with sand.

The little kids even had buckets with them, two buckets.

"...Ku...Pff..." Yui was trying her best to keep her laughter in because without a doubt, she was sure the kids were going to put two buckets on the chest area.

"...Pfft...Ahaha!...Ku...Pfft..." Ayato was also trying to keep his laughter down.

"Pft...AHAHA...pft...HAHA AHAHA!" The sun was beginning to set, sunlight fading away as the temperature dropped a bit. The park was now cleared of people besides Shu Ayato and Yui. Ayato and Yui were laughing their asses off and surprisingly Shu seemed oblivious to their laughter, sleeping soundly with sand covering him from neck to toe and two buckets around the chest area.

"PFT, HAHAHAHAHA AHAHA! KA HAHA, wait, wait I'm gonna take a picture!" Ayato brought out his phone, about to take a picture when Shu just destroyed the masterpiece the kids had made. "Ah?...No way..."

"Don't worry Ayato, I recorded the whole thing."

When they played the video, it was all a blurry with sounds of them containing their laughter.

"Your filming sucks! What's with this!?"

"Ah...I messed up, sorry."

They were disappointed they didn't have any visual evidence of Shu being buried in sand.

"Eh? We're still following him?" It was dark and the clothes they were wearing couldn't even get more suspicious in the dark.

"Of course we are," Ayato stated in an obvious tone.

They were whispering to each other, being careful with the volume of their voice since they were in a quiet neighborhood. There were a few people taking a stroll on the other sidewalk across from them.

"Hey Ayato, what's so cool about him?"

"Don't you follow his social media?"

They totally looked suspicious right now, trailing behind Shu and whispering to each other. They continued to exchange words until they noticed Shu came to a stop at the end of the street, turned around, and scowled at them. "What is it? What do you want?"

"Tell him you want an autograph." Ayato jabbed her by the elbow.

"I don't want one though. Why don't you ask him for another one."

Ayato turned to Shu, took of his sunglasses, hat and black coat, dropping them to the ground and shouted," I want an autograph!"

"...Sure." She sympathized for Ayato right now. He was probably disappointed that Shu didn't recognize him or the fact he already got an autograph. "What do you want me to sign?" But instead of showing disappointment, Ayato eagerly fished out a permanent black marker and showed the palm of his hand to Shu, pointing at his palm with his index finger.

"...Okay..." Shu held Ayato's wrist with his palm facing up and signed his name.

After Shu was completely gone from their view he raised his hand up and looked up at Shu's name signed in black permanent marker on his palm. He took a deep breath and proudly smirked at it. "Heh, I'm never washing this off!"

"Hehe, he's not going to forget me with this on my hand!"

"That's loud Ayato, what if he hears you—"

"SHH! Shush!"

"Pfft..." Yui softly chuckled to herself. They rarely ever spotted someone like Shu in places near their home which was why today was such a rare day, as well as that time in the cafe where Kou deliberately made them have a brain freeze because after they left the cafe Kou explained that around night time it would be bustling with lots of idols, singers and such.

 _...He's so engrossed into this._

There was one requirement to join the club—they had to be serious about it. Instead of the regular class schedule, they got to pick their own schedule. They could pick classes like dance class, singing class, acting class and others relating to the entertainment industry.

 _I'm not serious enough._ _.._

.

.

.

"Hmm...Where is he..." It had been planned that they would walk to school together today. However, when she came to pick Ayato up, his father said that he went to school already.

He's such a great friend isn't he?

Class was far from starting yet there was so many people at school already. "Red hair...hair...red hair...look red hair..." She didn't catch anyone with red hair and if she did, it wasn't Ayato. Why was it so difficult to find him? All she had to do was look for red...hair. "Ayato! Ayato—" Oops, wrong person. In the first place Ayato wouldn't be wearing a hat. Were students allowed to even wear hats? "Sorry."

She quickly apologized and scrambled elsewhere before the stranger could retort back or before she could get a good like of the person. It would be way too embarrassing to face the person she had mistaken as Ayato.

"Hmm, he did say on the first day he'd join the club," Yui muttered to herself, heading to the idol club's club room.

As she turned at a corner she finally bumped into the person she was looking for.

"Found you," Yui cheerfully exclaimed.

"Oh, heeeeey," Ayato cautiously replied. The expression on his face told her he did something bad. "So, just so you know I turned in you're joining the club."

"But I didn't get an application or anything."

"You just sign your name and student ID number."

"...But," Yui slowly started. "...I didn't—"

"I signed you in."

With late reflexes Yui's eyes widened as the bell signaled the start of school. "Ayato! Wait a—" She couldn't get a hold of him. He scrambled away as fast as he possible could to his first class saying "Oh look the bell just rang, bye".

Her mind was all muddled up and she headed to her first class as well. Part of her was relieved with what he did while the other part of her was angry at herself. She was this pathetic that her friend had to interfere. To afraid to join herself, her friend had to do it for her.

It wasn't that she wasn't serious. One some days during her vacation she had stayed up all night improving and learning new things. She was too much of a scaredy-cat to step into a whole new level. But at this moment, her mind, no longer muddled, was now settled. She could just tell them she made a mistake of putting her name on the list or just scratch it off the list. Those were possibilities, but she didn't plan on taking any of those actions.

"Ah...He's such a great friend isn't he?"

So far her classes were the same as middle school, a math class, science class, P.E class etc. And right now it was lunch period.

"Eh...How did you know..."

Quite surprisingly Ayato knew her whole schedule, info in which he got from Kou specifically.

He was leading her to the idol's club room. They talked about Kou, his songs and his recent tweets on twitter and because Ayato was Ayato they talked about Shu as well. On a side note, the talk about Shu was way longer that the talk about Kou. There was clearly a huge difference of the time between the time spent on talking about Kou and the time spent talking about Shu.

"It's empty...Wait a second, this the club room? Wasn't it the dance studio before."

Yui took in the sight. It was small, somewhat similar to the space of a compact office, and there was a normal desk like the ones in normal classes. This room could barely fit all the members of the idol club.

"No," Ayato's face scrunched up, thinking about what he had been told about the club room. "Not really, now they changed it to the garden."

"Anyways, why are we here?" Yui walked up to the desk and glanced at the sheets of line paper with people's names and school ID number on it.

Ayato clicked his tongue and parted his mouth, letting out a big sigh. He looked at the contents in the room but not her face. She thought Ayato seemed annoyed. "Made up your mind yet?"

"Ah...I see…," she murmured to herself. The paper lied on the desk, in front of her. It was within her grasp. Right here, right now, she could search for her name and erase it. But she seriously made up her mind already. "Yes, I did." She took her eyes off the paper and with a wide smile printed on her features. She walked past Ayato and headed out the room. It felt nice, it truly did. As if something heavy was just lifted off of her, she felt much lighter right now. "Let's go eat lunch."

"Gross, what's with that creepy smile...I think I'm gonna puke." Ayato jokingly proceeded making noises as if he was actually throwing up.

"Please don't do that, I think I'm loosing my appetite..."

...

Up on the rooftop, Kou was having lunch with a friend who was quite riled up at the moment.

"...Ah?! What did you do?!"

He had silver-white hair and red eyes. His demeanor was very delinquent-like. He seemed like someone who would get into fights just for the heck of it and he gives off an unfriendly expression. Overall his appearance was messy and tough, completely different from Yui.

But his situation was pretty similar to hers.

"I used permanent marker so you can't take you're name off that application~" Kou referred his friend as bunny. "Relax a little, cute white bub bun~"

"Shut up, don't call me that!"

"It's fine isn't it?~ I mean it's like your username on twitter~"

"It's bunny not bun bun!"

"Eh?~ Who cares, bun bun cuter."


End file.
